Inktober: Week 1

An illustrator named Jake Parker started Inktober in 2009 as a personal challenge to improve his inking skills. Today, thousands of artists do the daily challenge by making ink drawings every day for the whole month of October. Here’s more information: http://mrjakeparker.com/about

I decided to give Inktober a shot this year, only to find out I had no idea what I was doing. I struggled through the first five drawings, pretty much hating everything I drew.

Warmup test

Day 1: Fast

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4: Batman

CLICK TO SEE SLIDESHOW

I got some blue lead for my mechanical pencil and began to see improvement. I was having problems with the underdrawing with my normal lead since I had to erase it afterwards and it made nasty marks on the paper around the ink. Plus blue is better for drafting, as it lets me develop the lines more, rather than the finality of the darker lead.

There actually is a prompt list for each day of the month, but I only used a couple of them and sort of deviated into a fantasy animal theme, which I may or may not continue.

If I’ve learned anything about inking, it would be that less is more. Many of ink drawings are ruined by unnecessary blocks of shading, or lines that are too thick by contrast. That said, you have to add a certain amount of contrast, or the drawing will appear boring, for example, my first inking of day 9:

It’s not a great example, as the fur does help, but hopefully you see what I mean.

Anyway, I’m happy with my progress and can’t wait to see where I am at the end of the month. Feel free to give me suggestions in the comments for future Inktober drawings. Don’t forget to like this post if you did, and follow if you want to see more.